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Ibn Tufayl

ابْن طُفَيْل

Philosopher who inspired Robinson Crusoe and the scientific method

Born: 1105 CE, Guadix
Died: 1185 CE, Marrakesh
Era: Medieval
Field: Philosophy, Medicine
Origin: Guadix, Al-Andalus
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Tufayl was a 12th-century Andalusian philosopher and physician. His philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqzan — about a child raised alone by nature who discovers science and philosophy independently — influenced European Enlightenment thought and inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.